No protection against exploit attacks. Program control inactive by default. When active, program control inundates the user with popups. File & Folder Lock can be dangerous if misused. Web Control can disable websites spew popups.

Bottom Line

As a standalone firewall, Outpost Firewall Pro 8 is a blast from the past. Its program control, inactive by default, inundates the user with popups if enabled. Proactive protection features block both good and bad programs. There's really no reason to buy this when you can get better firewall protection for free.

Web ControlJava, Flash, ActiveX, and other types of active content make Web pages more interesting and interactive. They can also provide entrée for various malware attacks. Using Outpost's Web Control feature you can fine-tune permissions for a dozen types of active content. You can totally block a content type, totally allow it, or set Outpost to prompt you with a popup when a Web page requires that content type.

Note, though, that certain websites simply won't work if you block such building blocks as Flash, Java, and ActiveX. And if you set Outpost to prompt rather than block, you're going to get a lot of popups. Most users will install an antivirus to fend off attacks rather than rely on technology that blocks good and bad websites alike.

Outpost also includes a feature to strip online ads from the websites you view. It can block ads that come from a built-in list of known advertising URLs, block all images that match a number of standard ad sizes, or block based on keywords you supply. You can set it to replace removed ads with the text "[AD]" or with a blank image.

If you use Internet Explorer as your browser, you can access the web control features directly through a sidebar add-on called Quick Tune. The sidebar also reports statistics on blocked items. When you see an ad that got past the ad blocker, you can drag it into a Trashcan panel the sidebar to block it in the future.

In testing, I found that a lot of ads got past Outpost, even when I dragged them to the Trashcan. Replacing ads with "[AD]" messed up the layout of some websites. For myself, I'd just as soon "block" the ads by ignoring them.

Like Outpost Antivirus, Outpost Firewall can prevent user-specified sensitive information from leaving your computer, with an option lift the restriction for specified URLs. You can choose to totally block network packets containing the sensitive information or just replace the data with asterisks.

You could add your online banking password to the list and then exclude your bank's website, to make sure you don't inadvertently enter that password at a phishing site. Of course, an effective antiphishing component would handle all fraudulent sites, not just the ones you protect manually. Outpost nominally includes phishing protection, but in testing with hundreds of very new phishing sites I didn't see it block a single one.

Arcane ToolsOutpost Firewall's Tools panel includes a collection of tools to warm a techno-geek's heart. You can watch exactly what's going in and out of the system's ports, view a detailed analysis of all running processes, log all file and Registry activity, and more.

The only time an average user might conceivably invoke these tools would be on the advice of tech support, to gather information for solving a problem. Otherwise, those without technical training should leave these tools alone.

Misdirected EffortOutpost Firewall Pro 8 is definitely feature-rich and full of activity. The problem is, it's not the kind of activity users want or need. It warns about many kinds of activity that might be malicious, unless you leave its warnings turned off. And believe me, once you've experienced that flood of popups you will want to turn them off. For most users, the advanced tools and features just aren't necessary.

You don't see many standalone firewalls anymore, because a firewall without antivirus doesn't offer complete protection. If you insist on picking your security components individually, rather than as a suite, you want a firewall that's designed to rely on help from the antivirus.

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Neil Rubenking served as vice president and president of the San Francisco PC User Group for three years when the IBM PC was brand new. He was present at the formation of the Association of Shareware Professionals, and served on its board of directors. In 1986, PC Magazine brought Neil on board to handle the torrent of Turbo Pascal tips submitted by readers. By 1990, he had become PC Magazine's technical editor, and a coast-to-coast telecommuter. His "User to User" column supplied readers with tips...
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